'Disappointed' Giants could discipline Eli Apple for in-game tweets

It’s been a rough sophomore season for New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple both on and off the field, but he did himself no favors by breaking NFL rules and tweeting during Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

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Not only does Apple now face league punishment, but he may also face discipline courtesy of interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who expressed his “disappointment” with Apple’s in-game social media use.

“I had a conversation with Eli about that. I was disappointed,” Spagnuolo told reporters. “I told him I was disappointed. We’ll decide exactly what we do with it. He apologized. We move on from that.”

Apple’s decision to tweet during the game may seem insignificant, but it was his choice of topics that may cause additional problems in the locker room.

Apple responded to a tweet asking why he was sitting out against the Cowboys by saying, “I’m too healthy” and including an emoji of a man with his hands in the air.

Following an 81-yard catch-and-run by Dallas’ Rod Smith — a touchdown that essentially put the Giants to bed in Week 14 — Apple retweeted a comment about Smith “icing” the Giants, but later deleted it. He then defended himself by saying it was merely a pat on the back of a former Ohio State teammate and not necessarily a shot at the Giants.

That excuse didn’t exactly sit well with some of his teammates, including veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who acknowledges he understands Apple but tries to steer him in the right direction.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Sometimes,” DRC said when asked if he’s concerned about Apple. “But for the most part, I know he’ll get it because I know he loves football. I can hear it in his voice when he talks, so it’ll hone in at some point.

“I didn’t know about it. He tweeted during the game. What did he say? Pshhh. That is a tough one there. I don’t know. They probably have that kind of connection. But to do it during the game, that is probably bad timing.”

This isn’t Apple’s first locker-room issue this season, either. He threatened to walk out earlier this year during a “brutally honest” film session under then-coach Ben McAdoo. At the time, some of Apple’s teammates were vocal about his apparent lack of effort on the field.

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Despite the ongoing issues, Spagnuolo says the plan is for Apple to practice in full this week and be activated for Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles. It would be Apple’s first game since a Week 10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

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